Lock for controlling-levers.



E; MILLER. LOCK FOR CONTROLLING LEVERS. ..APPLIQAT|0N man APR. 11. 1916.

2L 265,3555: Patentd Ma 1918.

2 SHEETS- I.

E. MILLER.

LOCK FOR CONTROLLING LEVERS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.17. I916- Patented May 7,1918.

{SHEETS-SHEET 2 hwwu III/1,

rinirnn snares Parana erosion.

v EPHRAIM MILLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNQEE, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

JOHN IBEBNET, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LOCK roR conTnoLLrne-Lnvnrs.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented May *7, 191$.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EPHRAIM MILLEli, a

subject of the King of Great Britain, and .resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Looks for Controlling-Levers, of which the following is a specification. v

This. invention relates to improvements in a device to be used for locking the controlling levers of automobiles, or if desired, for locking such levers of other kinds ofrhachines or machinery, and it consists in certain peculiarities of the construction novel arrangement and operation of the various parts thereof as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

The main object of the invention is to provide locking means for controlling levers, whereby such a lever may be readily and seourely locked in a certain fixed position, so that, the machine which it controls can not be set in motion orcaused to operate by unauthorized persons, yet so that the lever may be easily released and the lock maintained in such position with respect to the lever as to enable the latter to be freely operated. Another object is to so construct the parts of the device as to provide a housing for the interiorelements thereof, to the end, that dust will be excludedtherefrom. Otherob jects" and advantages .of the invention will be disclosed in the subjoined description and explanation.

In the accompanying drawings, which serve to illustrate the invention Figurel is a plan View .ofthe lock showing it mounted on the controlling lever and illustrating the latter in section;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of .a portion of the lever, a part' of the support or bearing therefor, illustrating the lock in itslowered or locked position.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction.-

indicated by the arrows and showing the parts in their locked positions. j Fig. 1 's' a similar view taken on the same .line andlooking in the same direction, but

illustrating the parts in their unlocked positidns.

Fig. 5 is a plan sectionalview taken on line 55 of Fig. 3,.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detached perspective view of the slidable or locking sleeve of the device, and l Fig. 7 is a detached perspectiveview of the locking bolt which fastens and releases said sleev Like numerals of reference refer to like parts throughoutthe different views of the drawings.

The reference numeral 10 designates a controlling lever, for instance, for an automobile, which lever is suitably connected at its lower end or portion to a connection which leads to the transmission gearing of the automobile or machine, which connection and gearing is not herein shown. Surrounding the lower portion of the lever 10 is a support or bearing 11 therefor, which may be mounted in an upright manner on thev floor of the chassis of the automobile at a suitable point so that the lever 10 may be conveniently reached by the operator for his'manipulation in starting, changing the device is used in connection with an automobile, or said support may be suitably mounted on a desiredpart and at a convenient place on any other machine .to. which the device may be applicable. Asshown in Figs. 3 and 4 oflthe drawings the bearing or support '11 is provided with an up wardly tapered cavity 12 within which is snugly fitted a rounded or substantially spherical enlargement 13 with which the le- 'ver 10 is provided. The upper endof the its lower portion outwardly and down-' wardly flared as at 18 so as to closely embrace the rounded or upwardly and inwardly inclined portion 19 of the upper part of the support or bearing 11, as will speed and stopping the machine, when the I l be clearly understood by reference to Figs.

2 to 4 inclusive of the drawings. ing 17 is provided at a suitable point near The hous- Q ner-35,355

rounds the collar 16, while the lower end of said sleeve surrounds, in a like manner, that portion of the lever threads thereon. The lower end of the sleeve 22 is downwardly and inwardly tapered as at 23, so as to fit snugly in the opening 14, when said sleeve is in its lowered position, as shown in Fig. 3 of the in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings.

. ing bolt 27 of the lock of the device.

drawings. The sleeve 22' is provided in its wall with an opening 24 and located at a suitable point, when said sleeve is raised as shown in Fig. 4, to permit of access through the slot 20 to .a screw 25 which is passed through a suitable opening in the collar 16 of. the housing 17 and engages a suitable opening in the lever 10, as is clearly shown In its wall, and at a point about diametrically opposite the rod or handle 21, the sleeve 22 is provided with a socket 26 to receive the inner endof the locking bolt 27., the purpose and operation of which will-be presently described. As shown in Fig. 6', the sleeve 22 is provided with an external recess 28 in the lower portion of which is located a projection 29 to which one end of a spring 30 is secured, the other end of which spring is secured to an inwardly extended projection or screw 31 which is located in the upper portion of the housing 17 at such a point therein as to extend into the recess 28 of said sleeve as will be readily understood by reference of Fig. 5 of the drawings, and so as to hold the sleeve 22 under tension for rotary movement. on the collar 16 while said sleeve is engaged by the lock- As shown in the drawings, the upper portion of the housing 17 is provided with an enlargement 32 which is provided with a vertical opening 33 in which is fitted a barrel 34 of a lock of the ordinary or any preferred construction, which barrel has in its outer end 'a plate 35 provided with akey hole 36 for the reception of a key to be used for engaging and moving, through the medium of suitable tumblers contained in the barrel 34, a projection 37 which extends downwardly from the barrel 34 and is adapted to engage the inner surface of a cross bar 38 horizontally and transversely mounted .on phel upper portion of the bolt 27 of the oer. ner end "with a transversely extended rod 39, and said bolt is horizontally mounted for reciprocal movement in the lowerportion of the enlargement 32', and has its inner end projected toward the wall of the sleeve 22 at a point to engage the opening 10 just below the screwv outer ends of said recesses.

The bolt 27 is provided near'its in-- 27 is located in a socket 40 of a keeper 41',

which keeper is provided on each side of said socket with a recess 42 in each of which is located a spring 43 which rest at one of their ends against the transverse rod 39 and at their other ends against the Thus it will be seen that the tension of the springs 43 will normally press the locking bolt 27 inwardly,

but that when the projection 37 of the lock is moved by means of a key which controls said look, so as to cause said projection to move outwardly, the locking bolt 27 will be retracted and disengaged from the socket 26 therefor in the looking or' slidable sleeve 22, which sleeve will then be slightly rotated by the action of the spring 30 on the collar 16, thus removing the socket or opening 26 out of register with the inner end of the bolt 27 and permitting the latter to rest against the wall of said sleeve.

From the foregoing and by reference to the drawings itwill be understood and clearly seen, that, assuming the parts to be positioned as shown in Fig. 4, or in their unlocked positions it will be understood that direction so as to control the transmission gearing to which said lever is connected, but when it is desired to lock the lever 10 in a neutral or inoperative position, the looking sleeve 22 can be caused to engage, at its lower end, the opening 14 in the upper end 19;, by simply of the support or bearing1 e projection. 21,

pressing downwardly on t 'which operation will cause the sleeve 22 to rotate on the collar 16 and lever 10, thus bringing-the opening 26 into register with the locking bolt 27, which by reason of the springs 43 which actuate said bolt will be forced into said "opening and thus securely lock the sleeve-22 in its lowered position, when it is obvious that the lever will be held against movement. To release the lever, a key may be inserted in the opening 36 of the lock, when by turning said key in the proper direction the projection 37 will be moved outwardly thus retracting the looking bolt 27 from engagement with the sleeve 22, when by reason of the tension of the spring 30, said-sleeve will be rotated and raised to its normal position and thus held by said spring until it is again pressed downwardly.

Having thus fully described my inven-.

tion, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Paten';is

1. In a lock for controlling levers, the

combination with a leverz of a bearing-sup- I port therefor, a lock-carrying member "mounted on the lever to move therewith,- a

spring actuated bolt mounted on said member and adapted to be moved toward and from said lever, a sleeve rotatably and slidably mounted on the lever above said support and having means to engage the same,

means to retract said bolt, and resilient means connected to said member and to said sleeve adapted 'to automatically rotate and raise said sleeve into released position when said bolt is retracted.

. 2. In a lock for controlling levers, the combination with a lever, of a bearing-support forthe lever having a flared opening in its upper end, a lock-carrying member surrounding said lever and the upper portion of the bearing-support and fixedto the lever, a slidably and rotatably mounted sleeve surrounding the lever and located within said member, a spring connected to said member and sleeve to rotate and raise said sleeve out of engagement with the opening of the support, means for rotating and lowering said sleeve into locking position, a locking bolt carried by said member and adapted to be automatically moved into locking engagement with said sleeve when the same is lowered, and means to retract said bolt whereby said spring acts automatically to return said sleeve to release position.

3. In a lock for controlling levers, the combination with alever, of a bearing-support for the lever havinga flared opening in its upper end and rounded upper exterior,

a lock carrying member surrounding said lever above the support. and fixed to the lever, said lock carrying member having a diagonally disposed slot in its wall, a slidably androtatably mounted sleeve surrounding the lever and located within said member, a rod or pin secured to said sleeve and extended through said slot, a spring connected at one of its ends to the sleeve and at its other end to said member and within the same, a locking bolt carried by said member and adapted to be moved toward and from the lever and into and out of engagement {filth said sleeve, and means to move said 4:. In a lock for controlling levers, the combination with a lever having a rounded enlargement thereon, of a bearing-support for the lever housing said enlargement and having afiared opening in its upper end and rounded upper exterior, a lock carrying member surrounding said lever above the support and fixed to the lever, said member having a portion embracing the rounded part of said support, said member having a diagonally disposed slot in its wall, a slidably and rotatably mounted sleeve surrounding thelever and located within said member and having its lower end downwardly tapered to fit in the opening of said support, a rod or pin secured to said sleeve and extended through said slot, a spring connected at one of its ends to the sleeve and at its other end to said member and withinv the same, a spring actuated locking-bolt carried by said member and adapted to be moved 

